Bighorn Backcountry of Alberta Protecting Vulnerable Wildlife and Precious Waters
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Bighorn Backcountry of Alberta Protecting Vulnerable Wildlife and Precious Waters JOHN WEAVER May 2017 WCS CANADA CONSERVATION REPORT #10 WCS CANADA CONSERVATION REPORT #10 MAY 2017 BIGHORN BACKCOUNTRY OF ALBERTA PROTECTING VULNERABLE WILDLIFE AND PRECIOUS WATERS John L. Weaver Wildlife Conservation Society Canada 344 Bloor Street West, Suite 204 Toronto, Ontario M5S 3A7 www.wcscanada.org WCS Canada Conservation Reports: ISSN 1719-8941 Conservation Report Series (Print) ISSN 1719-8968 Conservation Report Series (Online) ISBN 978-1-927895-05-4 Bighorn Backcountry of Alberta: Protecting Vulnerable Wildlife and Precious Waters (Online) ISBN 978-1-927895-04-7 Bighorn Backcountry of Alberta: Protecting Vulnerable Wildlife and Precious Waters (Print) Copies of WCS Canada Conservation Reports are available from: Wildlife Conservation Society Canada 344 Bloor Street West, Suite 204 Toronto, Ontario. M5S 3A7 CANADA Telephone: (416) 850-9038 www.wcscanada.org Suggested Citation: Weaver, J.L. 2017. Bighorn Backcountry of Alberta: Protecting Vulnerable Wildlife and Precious Waters. Wildlife Conservation Society Canada Conservation Report No. 10. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Front Cover Photos: Mountain landscape © Stephen Legault; grizzly bear and cub, Milo Burcham; bull trout, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Copyright: ©2017 The contents of this paper are the sole property of the authors and cannot be reproduced without permission of the authors. Wildlife Conservation Society Canada Conservation Reports Series Wildlife Conservation Society Canada (WCS Canada) was incorporated as a con- servation organization in Canada in July 2004. Its mission is to save wildlife and wildlands by improving our understanding of — and seeking solutions to — critical problems that threaten vulnerable species and large wild ecosystems throughout Canada. WCS Canada implements and supports comprehensive field studies to gather information on the ecology and behavior of wildlife. Then, it applies that information to resolve key conservation problems by working with a broad array of stakeholders, including local community members, conservation groups, regula- tory agencies, and commercial interests. It also provides technical assistance and biological expertise to local groups and agencies that lack the resources to tackle conservation dilemmas. Already, WCS Canada has worked on design of protected areas (Nahanni National Park), monitoring and recovery of species (grizzly bear, lynx, wolverine, and woodland caribou), restoration of ecosystems, integrated man- agement of large landscapes, and community-based conservation. Although WCS Canada is independently registered and managed, it retains a strong collaborative working relationship with sister WCS programs in more than 55 countries around the world. The Wildlife Conservation Society is a recognized global leader in conservation, dedicated to saving wildlife and wildlands for spe- cies in peril, such as elephants, tigers, sharks, macaws and bears. For more than a century, WCS has worked in North America promoting conservation actions such as recovery of bison, establishment of parks, and legislation to protect endangered wildlife. Today, WCS Canada draws upon this legacy of experience and expertise to inform its strategic programs from Yukon to Labrador. To learn more about WCS Canada, visit: www.wcscanada.org. To contact WCS Canada, write to: [email protected]. The purpose of the WCS Canada Conservation Reports Series is to provide an outlet for timely reports on WCS Canada conservation projects. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... 1 Summary .................................................................................................................... 3 Résumé ... .................................................................................................................. 8 1. Bighorn Backcountry of Alberta ....................................................................... 14 Introduction: Vulnerable Wildlife, Precious Waters ................................................. 14 Threats to Waters and Wildlife ............................................................................... 22 Overarching Threat of Climate Change ........................................................ 22 Multiple Effects of Roads and Human Access .. ............................................. 30 Purpose, Goal and Objectives, and Structure of the Report .................................... 39 2. Sentinels of the Headwaters: Vulnerable Fish and Wildlife Species .............. 40 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 40 Framework for vulnerability profiles .............................................................. 40 Methods for Scoring Conservation Importance .............................................. 42 Description of Key Conservation Areas ......................................................... 42 Grizzly Bear ............................................................................................................. 44 Status and Vulnerability Profile ...................................................................... 44 Methods for Scoring Conservation Importance .............................................. 50 Key Conservation Areas ................................................................................. 54 Conservation Issues ....................................................................................... 60 Wolverine ................................................................................................................ 64 Status and Vulnerability Profile ...................................................................... 64 Methods for Scoring Conservation Importance .............................................. 69 Key Conservation Areas ................................................................................. 72 Conservation Issues ....................................................................................... 74 Bighorn Sheep ......................................................................................................... 75 Status and Vulnerability Profile ...................................................................... 75 Methods for Scoring Conservation Importance .............................................. 78 Key Conservation Areas ................................................................................. 78 Conservation Issues ....................................................................................... 79 Bull Trout ................................................................................................................ 82 Status and Vulnerability Profile ...................................................................... 82 Methods for Scoring Conservation Importance .............................................. 86 Key Conservation Areas ................................................................................. 88 Conservation Issues ....................................................................................... 90 Connectivity for Grizzly Bears and Wolverines across Highway 11 ......................... 92 3. Rich in Rivers Wild: Nexus of Biodiversity and Climate Corridors ......................................................................................... 96 River Floodplains: Nexus of Biodiversity ........................................... 96 Floodplain River Valleys as Climate-Adaptation Corridors ................ 103 4. Safeguarding the Waters and Wildlife of the Bighorn Backcountry .................................................................................... 108 Protecting the Headwaters: Smart Strategy Going Forward ................ 108 Synthesis of Conservation Values for Vulnerable Wildlife and Precious Waters ............................................................................................... 110 A Wildland Provincial Park in the Bighorn Backcountry .................... 117 Literature Cited ..................................................................................... 120 iv WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY CANADA | CONSERVATION REPORT NO. 10 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To assess the conservation value of the Bighorn Backcountry of Alberta for a suite of vulnerable fish and wildlife species, I compiled and synthesized a sizeable amount of biological information. Such a synthesis simply would not have been possible without the generous cooperation of many fine biologists in Alberta. I thank these biologists for sharing their hard-earned data and knowl- edge for the following species: grizzly bear: Gordon Stenhouse (Foothills Research Institute); Scott Nielsen (University of Alberta); wolverine: Tony Clevenger (Montana Transportation Institute), Jason Fisher (Alberta InnovTech); Jeff Copeland (The Wolverine Foundation); bighorn sheep: Anne Hubbs and Chiarella Feder (Alberta Environment and Parks), bull trout: Jessica Reilly, Steve Herman, and Laura MacPherson (Alberta Environment and Parks); Lorne Fitch (Cows and Fish), Clint Muhlfeld (USGS); rivers: Ric Hauer (University of Montana), Meade Krosby (University of Washington); climate change: Molly Cross (WCS). I thank the following biologists for their constructive review of species profiles and occurrence: Gordon Stenhouse (grizzly bear), Tony Clevenger, Jason Fisher (wolverine), Anne Hubbs (bighorn sheep), and Jessica Reilly,